DuskRaider's 40K Nurgle - An Experiment in Flesh and Machine

[DuskRaider]

What I want to know is how the pants on the fat guys are staying up.

 

For that matter why would they even care about wearing them at all? Something tells me dignity goes down the drain when your existence is so bad that you turn to the God of  Despair (among other things).

[Cryptix]

 

What I want to know is how the pants on the fat guys are staying up.

 

For that matter why would they even care about wearing them at all? Something tells me dignity goes down the drain when your existence is so bad that you turn to the God of  Despair (among other things).

 

Don't try to apply logic to Blood Bowl. It's rugby hooligans: the tabletop game.

[Krakendoomcool]

I have the exact same ikea cabinet and immediately got another one, could you fit two side by side on that wall?

 

I really like the trench warfare theme for Deathguard. Would the Titan be in the trench? Wood seems to pop up every so often on Deathguard models as a theme so it could work.

 

Great bases Eldrick been admiring those since the ETL.

 

The Bloodbowl pestigors are quite mutated from their beastmen origins. They seem to be putting head options in so you don’t have identical repeats but even so you would want 4 of these in your team for sure so would be s but stuck for same pose syndrome. Could make good conversion parts though.

[DuskRaider]

That's the thing, I'm not sure if the trench bases even make sense for the Knights but it would convey the theme across all of my Nurgle armies. In my opinion I think DragonForge should have had the Knight sized bases look like they're approaching the front trench line from No-Man's Land without actually stepping in (and who makes a trench that wide too??). So this is the issue I'm running into with it. It doesn't really make sense to have them stepping on what looks to be a gigantic wood deck in someone's backyard but it does match the Death Guard. 

 

As far as a second cabinet I'd have to do measurements but just by eyeing it up it seems there would be overhang. Could be worse I guess and it's probably what I'll do. I'll have to re-organize the cabinets at that time as well since I wasn't able to even fit all of my Daemons among other things. 

 

As far as the Pestigor models... well, they don't even looks like Beastmen. In fact, I wouldn't have even known they were supposed to be Pestigor if GW didn't label them as such in the Warhammer Community post. Bleh. 

Edited August 28, 2018 by DuskRaider

[DuskRaider]

Update time...

 

I've come back to the Gnarlmaw Knight after walking away from it for a couple weeks. I'm not sure if I'm happy with it or not. I know the green stuff work is a bit rough at the moment on the large root system, I intend to go back later and add a thin layer to smooth it out, add boils and skulls, etc. Right now I'm just trying to "map out" the system's path on the carapace leading into the frame.

 

I've added the pilot as well... or the corpse of the pilot to be specific. The tree is growing around him and absorbing him, he's becoming a part of not only the Ganrlmaw but the Knight in general. Fluff wise I'm thinking he's integrated with the machine / organics and his soul exists within it so it's not a true death, per say. I'm unsure still.

 

I don't know how far down into the frame I want the roots to go. I'm thinking of isolating it to the top half and leaving the bottom normal, albeit with corrosion and decay. I'm also contemplating using real moss and lichen at the end stage because I don't feel confident painting actual organic matter like that and I'd be fearful it would end up matted and bad looking.

 

I'm also unsure just how far the roots will extend to the right-hand side of the model. As-is I've already obscured where the House Icon would normally be on the left pauldron and I was hoping to avoid that. It probably won't be too bad still.

 

I'm still very unsure about this project and I'll admit I have contemplated ditching it completely. This is turning out to be more stressful and intensive than the Gallant.

 

Anyhow, updated pics...

 

[Augustus b'Raass]

Interesting choice to put him so far on one side, almost topping over. Although my perception of the angle may be a bad reflection of reality due to the angle and zoom of the shots. Still, asymmetry is a good thing!! 

 

Also: where's the pilot? I must admit I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity to not integrate the top hatch with the Maw of the Gnarl, like KrautScientist suggested. :tu: 

[DuskRaider]

I'd have to imagine that a Knight carapace wouldn't be the best real estate; especially for such a large tree; so it would grow at an odd angle or begin to topple a bit before finding awkward purchase.

 

The pilot is to the left of the cockpit hatch, he's just an upper torso. I used a FW Renegade Militia torso, Puppets War Zombie head, and Anvil Industry Zombie arm on him. He is a little difficult to make out, there's also tree branches or roots wrapping around his outstretched arm.

 

I just didn't like the "maw cockpit" idea and it wouldn't have worked with the tree where it is. And I wasn't moving the tree elsewhere, especially smack in the middle of the model.

[hushrong]

Looking great! I for one am digging this melding of man, machine, and daemon!

[KrautScientist]

Also: where's the pilot? I must admit I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity to not integrate the top hatch with the Maw of the Gnarl, like KrautScientist suggested.

 

Hmm, I actually have to admit DuskRaider is beginning to sell me on the design -- I really like the way those roots seem to be growing all through the Knight's upper body. Giving them the right texture and amount of detail will be integral to really nailing the look, I think.

 

Very intriguing! More please! :)

[Jackalwolf]

Geez there's so much Blanche in each of your miniatures! Great work man.

[DuskRaider]

Thanks guys!

 

Yeah, the texture is what I'm concerned about. It will probably come through with buboes and stuff, surprisingly the Gnarlmaw itself doesn't have much texture detail. I've done a bit more but no pics yet. It has roots growing down and entangling the head.

 

I'm avoiding physical mutation on this Knight in favor of just general wear and decay, favoring the Gnarlmaw and it's root system (and probably some other flora) as the source of corruption. The weapon arms are together as well, the left will most likely have some root detail but not too much.

 

And thanks for the Blanche comment, he's been such a huge influence on my hobby since the beginning. I think once I really starting delving into the more obscure details of my little Nurgle portion of the 40K universe his philosophy has emerged much more. That's why it made my day when both he and Wilhelm acknowledged my Pestigor on FB. Two huge influences.

[DuskRaider]

Alright, so here's where I stand with the Gnarlmaw Knight and this may be enough for me. I still have to close up the trunk and add damage to the model. I may bridge the rearmost root on the right pauldron as well for completion's sake. Remember, I'm sparing the Knight of physical corruption / mutation in favor of the Gnarlmaw being the focus so no crazy flesh change or horns anywhere.

 

The left Avenger Gatling Cannon also has some roots snaking down but not too far.

 

Also not pictured, I've done all the gap filling on my Dark Mechanicum models just in time for Call of Chaos. They'll be joining this Knight, my yet to be built second Gallant and the Gellerpox Mutants for my vow. I WILL be the Warmaster.

 

Any comments, concerns, suggestions or honor duel challenges let me know.

 

[malcharion]

Man ! This things already look disgusting ! I meant it as a compliment ! Great use of the gnarlmaw ! Nice choice of head also (the one eyed is right in the theme). I really understand the "No horns everywhere" But I could see one only, or (even better) one well placed roots of the tree bursting from the right of the head , echoing to the plaguebearers  (horned cyclope).

Anyway it starts really well ! 

 

Malchy

Edited September 15, 2018 by malcharion

[Augustus b'Raass]

Such a crazy conversion What are you going to do for the legs?

[KrautScientist]

Excellent work on the tree and roots! I think your greenstuff additons are right where they need to be, texture wise. I would suggest blending some of those rather crude connections on the plastic parts of the tree together a bit better (with some GS and Liquid GS) -- some of those areas still seem pretty crude, and I imagine the effect would only get more pronounced during painting.

 

I also think the head seems a bit too clinical and clean, in spite of being overgrown like that. Is there maybe something you could do with some dangling cables and a bit of damage (I do really appreciate the way some of those creepers are growing into the lenses).

 

Anyway, keep up the excellent work! :)

[DuskRaider]

@malcharion: thank you, sir! It means a lot coming from a modeling genius such as yourself. See my response below to Kraut about the horn idea.

 

@Auggs: the legs will be normal but decayed and damaged. I wasthinking about adding some spikey trim like you did but last I tried it didn't work so swell.

 

@Kraut: I was thinking about that too... where the roots meet or penetrate (huhuhuh) the hull. One thought I had was using some of the Martian Ironcrust in those areas to show abnormalities in the alloy. Another idea was liquid greenstuff to rough it up a bit and then add crackle effect after I prime the model.

 

As far as the head goes, there are still tubes to add. I'll probably have a few ripped in half with some root tangled in to show the system had grabbed on and broke them. One more thought was to take the dremel to the left side of the head and ruin it a bit with roots bursting out, maybe even twisting upward to resemble a horn as malcharion had suggested.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Are you going to texture the GS?

[DuskRaider]

No. I don't know. There's not much texture to the Gnarlmaw itself and I'm unsure how I would go about it. I added a thin layer to the large roots and smoothed it out before adding the buboes and skulls and working it around those. My buddy should be dropping by later with my half of the Rogue Trader game and he has some creeping vines for me as well, I'll add those in places.

[TURBULENCE]

Sorry for my weird previous posts, I was out of it, lost track of what posts I was actually replying to, and was totally in the wrong place. No bait, just idiocy on my part.

 

Really liking how you've fused the gnarlmaw to the knight, the roots running through it look excellent. And good idea to add the creeping vines in. Excited to see how that ends up looking. I'd be tempted to copy the idea myself, but it's not the look I want my Knights to have.

 

I never really liked the FW Knight heads, but for some reason I really like it here. I think it just pairs well the the nurgle look and with the rest of the work you've done

[DuskRaider]

No problem Turbulence, I was just a bit confused. And thanks!

 

Alright, so I just finished putting together the Gellerpox Mutants and I figured I'd give a little review on them. I don't have any pics because if you really need to see what they look like at this moment you can go to GW's website or literally any other source that's been covering the Rogue Trader box.

 

The Models

 

First thing's first: there's a lot of models in the box. I split the box with my friend and still ended up with 23 models. Pretty nice haul for what ended up costing me $45 (we'll get to the issue with this box rules-wise later). There Gellerpox Infestation army consists of:

 

  Vulgrar Thrice-Cursed - The "leader" of the Gellerpox Mutants and a hulking model. This guy and the Hulks all mount on a 40mm base and manage to make good use of the room they're given. Vulgrar is a pretty nice model, a little doofy with some details like the furnace in his gut, weird drills behind his kneecaps, and his awkwardly posed right arm, but the cool thing about him (and most models in this box) is that although he is monopose his various parts are all separate and thus still afford you freedom if you choose to convert them. There's a lot of nifty bionics on the big fella and would fit in well with my (or your) Dark Mechanicum.

 

  Nightmare Hulks - There's three of these models, each uniquely themed. One is designated the "sergeant" or leader of the unit, Gnasher-Screamer. This is the one with the Cleaver. When I first saw these models online my initial reaction was "I'm replacing those goofy heads ASAP". Yeah, that didn't happen. Not for lack of trying but I just couldn't find anything the proper size. Anyhow as I had said before, they each have a theme to them. Gnasher seems to be a former cook and reminds me a bit of the Butcher from Diablo (FRESH MEAT). There's one that has a nautical / squid look to it and this is kind of where it jumps the shark for me... we're in the 42nd millennium at the time of this game and off in a distant galaxy. How does this dude have squid tentacles? Not only that but for some odd reason he has harpoons and fishing hooks in him. Just... odd. He'll probably be a lot of fun to paint, though. Finally, the last one is an odd mish-mash of what looks like rhinoceros parts and... fly for an arm? I'm not sure what that's all about. He does have some killer chops so I can appreciate that.

 

  Gellerpox Mutants - Okay, these are the MVP of the box for me. They're kind of like Poxwalkers but actually look cool. Twisted, bloated and sporting some nasty wounds it's really hard to tell if they're living beings or undead but with those bad ass helms who cares? Seriously, I hope we get a box of these guys so I can build a billion of them. The models are incredibly detailed from their pox-ridden flesh to tiny details on their person like pouches, grenades, etc. They also sport some mingin' CC weapons. 

 

  Glitchlings - Hmph... interesting idea, love the fluff for them and it's cool to see another type of lesser daemon of Nurgle, but they suffer from the same "we're trying to be cute and comical" that Nurglings do. It would have been refreshing for GW to model these (and Nurglings) to resemble the artwork more. Otherwise they're still very detailed.

 

   Gribbly Creatures - There's three variant insectile creature types that accompany the Gellerpox Infestation: Eyestinger Swarms, Cursemites, and Sludge-Grubs. Surprisingly, these are really cool! It's great to see GW expand on Nurglitch fauna and I envision these models being used in various conversions over the coming years. Eyestingers are fly swarms which get me excited because as we all know I'm one of about three people who actually used the swarms that came with the various Death Guard models. Particularly nice is the large, fat fly that resembles a mini-Plague Drone and a large swarm that's bursting from a rotting corpse. Yum! 

 

    Cursemites are giant fleas. Despite making my flesh crawl seeing anything resembling a flea (I've had sand flea infestations, it's a plague) they're nicely detailed and seem to have an interesting physiology / source of locomotion. One seems to be traversing by parting it's mouth and unfurling a mass of tendrils. Cool. Again, beautifully detailed... although I'm not sure how much of a palette you'll use on these.

 

    Sludge-Grubs are slug-like beasts, though they all differ greatly as far as physical features so the name may just be a catch-all. Hghly detailed, one consists of a few tangled together with one's maw opened to reveal a head being digested. 

 

The Rules

 

Alright, so model-wise this box is a win but what about rules? Well here's the problem... if you're like me and simply want one half of the box you or you're box-splitting buddy are going to have to draw straws to see who gets to keep the RT book itself. This contains the Kill Team rules which was one of my main draws for this game. It's as if GW saw my Pestigor War Band and said 'Aw hell, we need to make rules so he can use these ASAP!'... obviously that's not the case, but it does work out well for me. Gellerpox Mutants are more durable Poxwalkers with Grenades and 'Gellercaust Masks' which wound the enemy when they make a successful attack (from what I remember). Between those and the Hulking Nightmares making perfect rules for my Minotaur how can I go wrong?? Oh, that's right... I don't actually have to rules. You see, although the box includes mini-codices for both the Gellerpox Infestation and the Rogue Trader's Retinue it's just 40K rules included in these. The Kill Team rules themselves are in the Rogue Trader BRB. Bad move, GW... 

 

Speaking of 40K rules, these guys are kinda... meh. They're EXTREMELY specific when it comes to amount taken, etc. They're meant to be a specific detachment so there are no options, you simply get what's in the box. While I'm disappointed by this I'm hoping it's a jump off for a Lost and the Damned codex. Between Traitor Guard and Dark Mechanicum there are two very crucial and large parts of a Chaos force that are not supported by GW at this time (and in the case of Dark Mechanicum, never have been). 

 

So that's that. I had originally intended to modify them to an extent but between not finding any bits I'm happy with on these and just having limited time with Call of Chaos (I know I have 3 months but I've vowed a lot) they'll just stay as-is.  I should have an update with pics very soon. The Knight is almost done (being assembled / modified)!

Edited September 18, 2018 by DuskRaider

[Eldrick Shadowblade]

Thanks for the review! I\ll probably pick up a set and use as nurgling bases / poxwalkers / chaosspawn

[DuskRaider]

Alright, I'm calling this done. I'm sure it won't please everyone and quite frankly I'm still not sure I'm 100% happy with it but I've got a whole other Knight to build plus a ton of stuff to paint before December 15th so I'll take what I have. 

 

As you can see, I've done more root system extensions into the chest plate and shield as well as added an entangled root "horn" to the head. As I had already planned, the lower half is devoid of the rotting flora up top but shows signs of advanced corrosion and damage. I've also added some skulls here and there tangled in the roots, some are easier to spot than others.

 

The Gnarlmaw itself has been given a backing to it's uhh.. maw. I didn't want that void there so I figured fill it with a stretched piece of green stuff. I've also added various skulls inside it's "mouth", victims of past battles that are slowly digested to fuel the behemoth. 

 

One thing I noticed while taking these (admittedly poor and hasty) pictures is I forgot to add the exhaust stack to the left-hand side. Originally I was going to use the polyp-looking pieces, but I recently received some Kromlech exhaust bits so they may be used instead. The only other thing I may do is fill in the holes where the various ladders go and either fill the hole or find an icon to add to the center of the armour. 

 

Comments, etc. I suppose. Like I said, I know folks were hoping for more and I've added a lot to this but at this time I've spent two or three weeks just doing the details to the best of my ability and limited time and this is what I'm rolling with.

 

[Pearson73]

Thanks for your thoughts on the Gellerpox lot, it was an interesting read.

 

The Knight is really well done, I think all the bells hanging off the back give it a really cool vibe, one can imagine the sounds of the battlefield slowly fading away to be replaced by the soft buzz of plague flies before a mournful tolling rings through the air and a giant, twisted sillhouette slowly emerges from the roiling fog.

[DuskRaider]

Thanks! I like that imagery. I almost added more bells but I think the Gnarlmaw comes with enough as-is. I forgot to mention, I'll be adding Martian Ironcrust around the base of the Gnarlmaw as well as contact points with the hull and holes bored into the carapace. I would have done it tonight at work but I forgot all of my brushes which also means liquid green stuff is a no-go for the join of Gnarlmaw and green stuff roots. 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Some projects go easy and some fight you the whole way and I know what it's like to call something you're not 100% on because of a deadline or you're running out of steam, but good job sticking it out to the end.